西爾斯（Sears）和凱馬特（Kmart）在破產(chǎn)后有了一項(xiàng)新戰(zhàn)略：擴(kuò)大工具和家電銷(xiāo)售，減少服裝銷(xiāo)售并縮小店面,。

2004年收購(gòu)凱馬特使其免于破產(chǎn),，并在第二年將其與西爾斯合并的對(duì)沖基金之王艾迪·蘭伯特對(duì)《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》（Wall Street Journal）表示，近年來(lái)這家羸弱的公司旗下的各個(gè)品牌都關(guān)閉了數(shù)百家門(mén)店,，它將在店內(nèi)用更多空間銷(xiāo)售工具和家電,。雖然西爾斯的市場(chǎng)份額連年下降，門(mén)店規(guī)模持續(xù)縮小,，但該公司在這一領(lǐng)域依舊有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力,。

新公司將擁有223家西爾斯門(mén)店和202家凱馬特門(mén)店。由于蘭伯特在本月早些時(shí)候的破產(chǎn)法院拍賣(mài)中出資52億美元,，這兩家標(biāo)志性的零售商有了重獲新生的機(jī)會(huì),。

但這并不容易。

蘭伯特在2013年至2018年期間擔(dān)任西爾斯的首席執(zhí)行官,，也是之前西爾斯的最大股東,。但是在他的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，兩家連鎖店江河日下,，銷(xiāo)售額年復(fù)一年下滑,，店面投資不足及商品配置優(yōu)化失敗也讓業(yè)務(wù)受到了影響。

多年來(lái),，西爾斯把長(zhǎng)期主導(dǎo)的家用電器等領(lǐng)域的市場(chǎng)份額拱手讓給了家得寶（Home Depot）,、勞氏（Lowe’s）和百思買(mǎi)（Best Buy）。而凱馬特也跟不上沃爾瑪（Walmart）,、塔吉特（Target）或科爾士百貨（Kohl’s）的崛起速度,。

蘭伯特的計(jì)劃中有值得贊美之處。服飾領(lǐng)域長(zhǎng)期困擾著西爾斯（還記得從上一代人經(jīng)歷的“西爾斯柔軟的一面”營(yíng)銷(xiāo)嗎,？）,，甚至連梅西百貨（Macy’s）和彭尼（J.C. Penney）這樣實(shí)力更強(qiáng)的零售商也在該市場(chǎng)表現(xiàn)掙扎,。所以，除非西爾斯能夠推出爆款,，否則降低服飾比重,，增加耐用品銷(xiāo)售，蘭伯特的計(jì)劃很有道理,。（在塔吉特和沃爾瑪甚至還在進(jìn)一步增加服飾競(jìng)爭(zhēng)時(shí)這樣做,，絕非十拿九穩(wěn)。）

不過(guò)耐用品存在的一個(gè)問(wèn)題在于西爾斯浪費(fèi)了自己最大的優(yōu)勢(shì)：巔峰時(shí)期,，西爾斯占據(jù)了美國(guó)41%的大型家電市場(chǎng),。《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》援引TraOline的數(shù)據(jù)指出,，這一比例如今已經(jīng)下滑了13%,。（經(jīng)常與西爾斯在商場(chǎng)中一起出現(xiàn)的鄰居彭尼最近宣布停止銷(xiāo)售家電。該公司曾在2016年決定重返這個(gè)33年前離開(kāi)的市場(chǎng),，希望借著西爾斯的衰退的機(jī)會(huì)分一杯羹,。但最后沒(méi)能取得理想的效果。）此外,，無(wú)論服飾市場(chǎng)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)多么劇烈,，它至少可以帶來(lái)更多的門(mén)店客流量：畢竟，你每隔十幾年才會(huì)買(mǎi)一臺(tái)冰箱,，但每年會(huì)買(mǎi)好幾次衣服,。

蘭伯特縮小門(mén)店的想法也符合零售業(yè)的發(fā)展方向，門(mén)店更像是展示間,，而更多的銷(xiāo)售在網(wǎng)上進(jìn)行,。科爾士百貨就減小了數(shù)百家門(mén)店的銷(xiāo)售區(qū),，而塔吉特則開(kāi)設(shè)了數(shù)十家小型門(mén)店,。破產(chǎn)后,，西爾斯擁有更干凈的財(cái)務(wù)和更大的靈活性來(lái)這么做,，不過(guò)還需要打通網(wǎng)店店主和供應(yīng)商。（蘭伯特本人對(duì)《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》表示,，商場(chǎng)老板無(wú)意支持一家剛剛破產(chǎn)的公司,。）

情況不至于絕望：畢竟，西爾斯和凱馬特依舊是大型零售商,，有著忠實(shí)顧客,，也不再受到債務(wù)困擾。不過(guò)正如多年銷(xiāo)售額下滑（西爾斯沒(méi)有一年的銷(xiāo)售額出現(xiàn)增長(zhǎng)）所體現(xiàn)的那樣,，許多顧客已經(jīng)離開(kāi),。西爾斯能否向顧客提供其他地方所沒(méi)有的特色,，目前仍然要打個(gè)問(wèn)號(hào)。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

Sears and Kmart have a new strategy, post-bankruptcy: more tools and appliances but less clothing and smaller locations.

Eddie Lampert, the hedge fund king who bought Kmart out of bankruptcy in 2004 and melded it with Sears a year later, told the Wall Street Journal that the leaner company, which has closed hundreds of stores under each brands in recent years, would allocate more space in stores to areas like tools and appliances, where Sears remains a contender despite years of market share loss, and shrink store size.

The new company, which will have 223 Sears stores and 202 Kmart locations, gives two iconic retailers another chance at life thanks to a $5.2 billion offer by Lampert earlier this month in a bankruptcy court auction.

But it won’t be easy.

Under Lampert, who was CEO between 2013 and 2018 and the former Sears Holdings top shareholder by far, the two chains withered away, with sales declining year in, year out, business hurt by a lack of investment in stores and a failure to improve merchandise assortment.

For years, Sears bled market share in areas like home appliances it had long dominated to the likes of Home Depot, Lowe’s and Best Buy, while Kmart couldn’t keep up with the rise of Walmart, Target or Kohl’s.

There are things to laud in Lampert’s plan. Apparel is a category that has long bedeviled Sears (remember its ‘The Softer Side of Sears’ campaigns from a generation ago?), and even more competent retailers like Macy’s and J.C. Penney are struggling on that side, so he is right to down play that in favor of hard goods unless Sears can come up with a compelling assortment. (That’s no slam dunk at a time even Target and Walmart are upping their apparel game.)

But one problem with hard goods is that Sears has squandered its own big lead: at its peak, Sears commanded 41% of the U.S. major appliance market. According to the WSJ, citing TraOline, that is down to about 13%. (J.C. Penney, Sears’ frequent mall neighbor, recently announced it would stop selling appliances, a category it returned to in 2016 after 33 years in a move intended to take advantage of Sears’ decline. But it didn’t yield the expected results.) What’s more, however competitive the apparel market is, it does at least yield more frequent store visits: after all, you only buy a fridge once a decade or so, but will go shop for clothes a few times a year.

His idea for smaller stores is also in tune with where retail is heading, with stores becoming showrooms and more sales happening online. Kohl’s has shrunk the selling area at hundreds of stores, while Target has opened dozens of successful smaller format locations. Post bankruptcy, Sears has much cleaner finances and flexibility to do that but it will also have to get landlords and vendors on line. (Lampert himself told the WSJ that mall owners “were not rooting for the company to emerge from bankruptcy.”)

The situation is not hopeless: after all, Sears and Kmart remain large retailers with established clienteles, and are no longer choking under debt. But as years of sales declines (Sears Holdings didn’t have a single year of sales growth) have shown, many shoppers have moved on. It’s still not clear what Sears can offer them that they can’t find elsewhere.